April 4, 2006

  • Are they nuts??? 


    I'm not a fan of flying in any case, but lemme tell you....implement these miscellaneous fees (found at CNN) and my lack of enthusiasm will swiftly morph into downright loathing:


    NEW AIRLINE CHARGES


    Intense competition from low-fare airlines and high jet-fuel prices have forced many established carriers to cut back or charge passengers for amenities. Among the items that some airlines are charging for:


    Paper ticket vs. e-ticket (domestic, $20-$30; international, $50)

    Telephone reservations by airline ($5-$10)

    Changing a seat once booked (low-cost carriers, $25-$50; traditional airlines, $50)

    Assigned seating ($10 per flight leg)


    Fees for exit row, bulkhead, or aisle/window seating ($15 trial this summer)

    Booking travel using frequent flyer award miles/points ($10-$50)

    Switching a ticket to standby status ($25-plus)

    Unaccompanied minor child ($40-plus each way)

    Overweight bags ($25-$50 for any bag over 50 lbs.)

    Extra bags ($40-$80 per bag beyond two checked per person)


    Curbside check-in of bags ($2-$3 per bag)

    Checked bags ($4-$7 per bag on international flights)

    Food on board flights ($5-$10 per meal)

    Soda ($1)

    Snacks ($1)

    Blankets ($1)

    Pillows ($1)

    Headsets ($1-$5)

    In-cabin pets (under seat, $50-$100 each way)




    Some are worse than others, with a few already here (charging for headsets, as an example).  Can you imagine forcing people to pay for checked baggage on oversea flights?  The very flights nearly guaranteed to have checked baggage?


    Charging a fee to sit anywhere except in a middle seat?  That's just stupid.  What they ought to do is raise the price of the ticket $15 then offer a discount for a middle seat.  Same monetary effect for the airline, but a completely different psychological effect on the passenger.  Lots of people would be willing to save a few bucks by sitting in a middle seat, after all.


    And charging for assigned seating sounds like an invitation to "Bump me!  Please!  Bump me!"  Surely it's easier to bump those without assigned seats.


    "Friendly skies" my left foot. 

Comments (3)

  • The article I read about all this said people aren't complaining in great numbers about how they're treated by airlines because they've come to expect to be treated badly.   And ain't that the truth.   Coming back from Las Vegas last fall, we were herded like cattle through the security gates at the airport with people yelling, "keep in line, keep moving, have your photo ID ready to show, come on move it along people."    I'm glad we don't have to fly much anymore.

  • Charging for checked bagging is, from a marketing POV, insane. Getting your luggage there with you should simply be part of the service that is provided when you buy a seat. So should really basic things like snacks, blankets, and pillows. The idea that you can pay hundreds of dollars for a service that confines you in a given space and environment for an extended period of time, and then have to pay for things that make that confinement minimally tolerable is just silly. You're right that it would make far more sense just to raise the ticket prices an amount that covers the average costs of those "extras" per passenger, and Lois is right that they've got us trained that it's normal to hate the experience, so that we're willing to pay to make it tolerable. Can you imagine even the dumpiest hotel charging to clean the bathrooms, for example? But how did we let it happen?

  • We let it happen because air travel is so totally unique. It's the hands-down fastest way to get from Point A to a distant Point B. It's air travel that permitted the trips to see Charles graduate, and to Frank's service. There's no other mode of travel that would allow me to be at those events.

    And the airlines know this. Even had I the time to take the train, which I didn't, and if it went to Orlando, which I don't think it did, the cost would be as high or higher than the airplane.

    We're accustomed to g-o-i-n-g, whether for pleasure or business or whatever, meaning we will buy those tickets on overcrowded flights with precious few amenities.

    And the airlines know this, too.

    Tell you what, though, if they're going to charge for pillows and blankets, we'd better be able to drag our own pillows and blankets on board without them counting as official "carry-on" baggage.

    Really, all things considered, I'd much rather drive.

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